Labor Divided in the Postwar European Welfare State: The Netherlands and the United Kingdom

Description

This book explains how the success of attempts to expand the boundaries of the postwar welfare state in The Netherlands and the United Kingdom depended on organized labor's willingness to support redistribution of risk and income among different groups of workers. By illuminating and explaining differences within and between labor union movements, it traces the historical origins of 'inclusive' and 'dual' welfare systems. In doing so, the book shows that labor unions can either have a profoundly conservative impact on the welfare state or act as an impelling force for progressive welfare reform. Based on an extensive range of archive material, this book explores the institutional foundations of social solidarity.

About Author

Dennie Oude Nijhuis is an Assistant Professor of History at Leiden University. He has been a visiting lecturer at Bilgi University, Istanbul University and Chulalongkorn University, and a research fellow at Yale University's Department of Political Science. Oude Nijhuis specializes in the comparative political economy of labor markets and welfare states and the political economy of European integration. His work has been published in World Politics, Labor History, Twentieth Century British History and the Journal of Economic and Social Geography. His thesis was shortlisted for the Nederlandse Kring voor de Wetenschap der Politiek Annual Dissertation Award. He has received an NWO-Rubicon grant for a research proposal that aimed to uncover the determinants of organized labor support for redistribution. In 2011 he was awarded the prize for best article of the year on a non-U.S. or comparative topic by the journal Labor History.

Contents

1. Labor and the development of the postwar welfare state; 2. Labor divided; 3. The development of old age pensions in The Netherlands and the United Kingdom; 4. The development of unemployment insurance in The Netherlands and the United Kingdom; 5. The development of disability insurance in The Netherlands and the United Kingdom; 6. Union solidarity and the use of social security for early retirement purposes in The Netherlands; 7. Conclusions and implications.